Laser Light Therapy is well known in the treatment of a wide variety of medical conditions whereby the laser emits light at certain specific bio-effective frequencies. In various applications, it is used to treat musculo-skeletal pain caused by injury or chronic and acute conditions. A non-exhaustive list of the conditions treated by Laser Light Therapy includes whiplash, arthritis, migraine, lower back pain, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, golfer's elbow, strains, sprains, knee, neuropathy, ankle and foot pain, TMJ, and soft tissue injuries. The therapy is also useful in treating and promoting wound healing.
Depending on the nature and extent of the treated injury, the effects of Laser Light Therapy may be either curative or palliative. Where soft tissue injury is involved, such as in the case of sprains or strains, the device appears to promote direct healing of the injured tissue. If the injury is structural as in the case of a torn ligament or bone fracture, the device provides palliative relief and may be used in conjunction with other treatments.
Laser light consists of discrete coherent light of a wavelength from a narrow spectrum of electromagnetic radiation (“EMR”). In general it is amplified EMR that is monochromatic, collimated, polarized and concentrated in a relatively defined location or spot. Low Level Lasers are considered to be lasers varying in power intensity from 1 mW to 500 mW and are commonly used in therapy. The properties of laser light in general are such that it penetrates the surface of the skin without, or when desired with only limited, associated heating. Laser light is well known to possess and direct bio-stimulating energy to the cells of the body which, in turn, facilitates and enhances the body's own healing and pain regulating mechanisms.
Laser Light Therapy appears to be an effective treatment because of its ability to enhance the maintenance or restoration of biological systems to proper conditions of homeostasis and its ability to initiate or amplify the body's own regenerative systems. Injury or other chronic conditions may have a deleterious affect on cellular systems and thereby compromise the cell's ability to regulate its functioning or to effect repairs where tissue has been damaged. Where cell membranes have been damaged, laser light therapy enhances receptor-mediated movement across the cell membrane. Thus it has a positive effect on the cell's ability to maintain or restore proper function, repair of the cell's enzyme systems and re-establish the proper balance of proteins, ions or carbohydrates to allow the cell to function normally. Often, the addition of energy to the cell system can restore proper function and balance as the cell is re-stabilized and homeostasis is restored.
In laser therapy, photonic energy is emitted from a laser source. The energy, in the form of photons, is absorbed by photo acceptor sites on the cell membrane. This in turn triggers the cell's biochemical pathways which initiate the transmission of a variety of signals initiating, inhibiting or accelerating a variety of biological processes. These processes include inflammation reactions, cell growth or pain blocking. Furthermore, photonic energy is known to promote and optimize anti-inflammatory and immuno-stimulative effects.
In general, the significant biological effects of laser light are known to include cell growth stimulation and cell regeneration which, positively affect connective tissue, tendons, bone, muscles and nerves. Laser light therapy promotes revascularization of damages or injured tissue leading to positive therapeutic effect. Further, laser light therapy is known to improve microcirculation in injured or damages tissue thereby relieving, for example, edemas, and facilitating the healing in treating torn or damages muscle tissue. It further acts to inhibit inflammation of afflicted areas by inhibiting the ability of leukocytes to trigger increasing inflammation responses. It is also known to reduce fibrous tissue formed in response to injury.
At the cellular level, Laser Light Therapy is also well-known to increase the levels of adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) produced by the mitochondria of the cell. One effect of laser light is to promote and stimulate cytochromes, including porphyrin, to produce singlet oxygen during the creation of ATP. ATP, in turn, plays a critical role in transporting energy within the body's cells and tissue and thus greater levels of ATP act to stimulate higher levels of cellular activity. Increased ATP production promotes increased levels of various growth factors and higher levels of protein synthesis, which are key for cellular repair and functioning.
Under the stimulation of laser light energy, greater degrees of cell proliferation have been observed. Other beneficial effects include increased levels of endorphin release leading to pain relief, both acute and chronic. Increased lymphocytic activity leading to a stronger immune response is also observed. Another well known beneficial effect of laser therapy is the promotion of revascularization of the blood and lymph vessels in response to therapy. This is particularly useful in treating edema and contusions related to injury or trauma.
Presently, lasers of particular wavelengths are known in the prior art. None, however, disclose the art of a composite beam comprised of laser energy emitted at wavelengths of 532 nm, 808 nm and 1064 nm which this device in its preferred embodiment does. An example of this is U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,436 which uses laser light within the range of 800-870 nm, more preferentially 830 nm, to treat a variety of musculo-skeletal injuries and conditions. Other therapeutic devices used for treating injuries and musculo-skeletal pain include laser emitting light at frequencies in the range of 635 nm at approximately 5 mW of power. While relatively powerful lasers emitting light at wavelengths of 532 nm are used by surgeons in the removal of tattoos and by dentists for bleaching or whitening teeth, the use of such frequencies is little known in the treatment of musculo-skeletal pain and injury. An example of one patent that does employ a similar frequency is U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,454 to Yayama. While Yayama does use a beam emitted at a frequency of 530 nm in connection with other beams, none of the other beams include frequencies of the infrared spectrum. Laser light at that frequency is known to be readily absorbed by hemoglobin. Therefore it is used in ablating blood vessels and treating other cosmetic skin conditions caused by blood vessels such as port wine stains. It is further known to readily penetrate the skin.
Furthermore, in lasers that are used to treat musculo-skeletal pain, the emitted therapeutic light is typically of one wavelength only, typically ranging from 635 nm to 980 nm. While multi-diode lasers may be used, the diodes usually emit identical frequencies of EMR and thus merely increase the energy deposited without varying the spectrum of the treating light source. Where multiple-diode lasers have been employed that emit different wavelengths, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,839, only one wavelength has been selected for its therapeutic quality and effect. A second wavelength is typically used as a guide beam to assist in directing the therapeutic beam. When multiple frequencies are used to treat musculo skeletal conditions as in the '454 patent, the frequencies have not included similar combinations of frequencies as disclosed herein and in fact differ in their characteristics. The instant device for example includes infrared wavelengths which allow greater penetration of the tissue than visible wavelengths as in the '454 patent. Furthermore, in the instant invention, the laser beams do not intersect and then diverge as in Yayama but rather are emitted as a composite beam and this too facilitates the deeper penetration of the target tissue than Yayama. Not only does the composite beam penetrate more deeply than Yayama without diverging, each component beam of the composite beam simultaneously strikes the same target tissue and from the same angle. Furthermore, in at least certain embodiments of this device, at least two (2) composite beams form an octave, here the 532 nm beam and the 1064 nm beam or at least approximate an octave.